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Sascha Hilgenfeldt

Sascha Hilgenfeldt's profile

Sascha Hilgenfeldt

Professor of Mechanical Science and Eng.

Description of Current Research

Professor Hilgenfeldt conducts theoretical and experimental research on the interfacial structure and dynamical evolution of foam and soft condensed matter. He has elucidated fundamental processes in interface dynamics, including sonoluminescence and domain coarsening, and applied results to develop a new and powerful kind of microfluidic flow excitation. His research has important implications for drug delivery, gene therapy and cell diagnostics, as well as generally enhancing the understanding of the mechanics of life.

Working with colleagues in the biological sciences, he recently created a functional equation that describes how living cells pack together to create fruit fly eyes. He created the quantitative model of cell geometries using only two factors: the energy of the adhesion molecules that hold nearby cells together and the energy from the stretching of the cells' membranes. The model helps researchers understand how adhesion energy changes the shape of the eye and allows them to study how such molecules develop and function during embryo development. His group is currently testing whether this model can be applied to different kinds of tissues, which could lead to advances in regenerative medicine.

Hilgenfeldt, S., S. Erisken, and R. W. Carthew, "Physical Modeling of Cell Geometric Order in an Epithelial Tissue," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105:3, 907-911, 2008.

Marmottant, P. and S. Hilgenfeldt, “A Bubble-driven Microfluidic Transport Element for Bioengineering,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Science of the United States of America, 101:26, 9523-9527, 2004.

Hilgenfeldt, S., D. Lohse, and M. P. Brenner, “Phase Diagrams for Sonoluminescing Bubbles,” Physics of Fluids, 8:11, 2808-2826, 1996. This work was selected as one of the 45 most significant publications in the history of American Institute of Physics Journals.